Saturday, May 26, 2012

Equal Opportunity Advocates

Now that UN observers are, however begrudgingly, permitted to be 'on the ground' in Syria, they have been doing what they were tasked with; relaying data back to headquarters, as it were. An investigation has concluded furthermore - amazingly enough for those blissfully ignorant of the traditions of the Middle East - that both 'sides' in the Syrian conflict; government and opposition have been indulging in vile human rights abuses.

Government forces have been, as charged by the opposition, executing entire families in their homes. For their part, the rebels have distinguished themselves by reacting on cue, and torturing before killing those soldiers and government supporters unfortunate enough to fall into their hands. Both of which simply indicate how skilled and committed Syrians are in flaying and butchering one another.

Nothing on Earth seems to spur on the kind of incandescent hatred that the Arab mind is capable of, like the very thought of another tribe, clan or another perspective on the manner in which Islam is to be regarded and worshipped gaining the ascendancy over their own, which is incomparably superior because it is their own, and furthermore personally endorsed by God himself.

"Entire families were executed in their homes - usually the family members of those opposing the government such as the family members of Colonel Riad al-Assad", observed the UN investigation, in reference to the head of the rebel Free Syrian Army and the unfortunate yet entirely predictable end his relatives experienced in being purged of their living essence.

The rebels, increasingly well armed and better organized than previously and acquiring greater confidence, have for their part, executed or tortured soldiers and supporters of the regime. The investigators who wrote the report for the UN did so on the basis of their interviews with victims and witnesses, interviews that did not take place on Syrian soil.

Children, according to the investigation's conclusions, were frequent casualties of attacks on protests, and marches, as well as through bombardments by state forces on towns and villages where they live. Rebels have not been above abducting civilians to hold them as ransom for any of their members held by the regime who have not yet been murdered.

In addition to which multiple reports have surfaced pointing at incidents where the insurgents have taken to summary executions of anyone suspected of collaborating with the regime. A like fate awaits captured members of the regime's troops. One could say with a certainty that the livid hatred of these Syrians against one another is clearly unappeasable but by blood and the exhalation of the last breath.

The former head of the Syrian National Council has bemoaned the incendiary disaffection between the opposition secularists and its Islamists which situation adds yet another irreconcilable dimension of rejecting ideologies to the already potent mixture of tribal and sectarian hatred. His chummy willingness to ally himself with the Muslim Brotherhood is what led to his ouster.

The Arab Spring is the band-aid that is supposed to bring these little irritations to the bargaining table of surrendering to reason, for the greater goal of achieving Arab moderation on the way to modernity and reasonableness. And, as that famously brilliant epic saying goes: "Good luck with that."

This represents a general opinion site for its author. It also offers a space for the author to record her experiences and perceptions,both personal and public. This is rendered obvious by the content contained in the blog, but the space is here inviting me to write. And so I do.